When the Beauty is Underneath
by TheBeautifulAnabelleLee
Summary: A twist on a classic tale. Instead of princes and princesses, we have a girl in the midst of a drug war and a cruel head of a known gang.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Belle woke up to the sound of gun shots, like always. She sighed and rolled over. Another day, another deal goes down. She got up and turned on her laptop. Immediately, her music played and she opened her story. Then, she closed her eyes and the room began to shift and change. Her bedroom turned into her story. Instead of being a girl in the middle of a gang war, she was a warrior princess in a foreign world. A world, that existed only in her mind. She opened her eyes and words flew from her fingertips like waves on the shore. Ideas and creativity flew around the room like butterflies. She felt the familiar power for being able to build up and break down worlds and civilizations with just a flick of her fingers. All of the points of the story solely depended on her. It was a rush, a point of her life that no one could touch or change but her. Suddenly, there was a loud bang on her door and the magic faded and the room stayed still as the way the rest of the world viewed it.

"Belle, open this door," her father shouted.

"Coming, Papa!" She shouted, as she turned off the music. When she opened the door there was a man she had never seen before with her father. He was about six foot seven and bald. He was covered in tattoos and his ice cold stare could have frozen her blood. She met his blue eyes once and quickly looked away. An involuntary shiver went down her spine as she stood there in her pajamas. She couldn't help but feel like a piece of meat being appraised.

"Belle, this is Henric, he is a representative of Nevermore," he said. That explained the icy chill she had but it didn't explain why he was here. Nevermore is the biggest rival of her father's gang, Immortal Sun. He would have shot them on sight before he would let one walk into our home.  
"Hello," I said.  
"She isn't much of a talker, is she?" asked Henric.  
"Will he accept or no?" Belle's father asked.  
"She is a real beauty. She doesn't seem to be one to judge. If this works all of our problems will be solved," Henric said.  
"If what works? Papa what is going on?" she asked.

"Belle, you have to trust me. This is for the best," he said. She had heard this all before and knew too well what it meant.

"What am I giving up now? I have nothing but my stories are you taking those too? Are they dangerous like having friends?" she accused. She was near tears, she was so angry. He always had her giving up things, but he never had to make the tough decisions.

"No, I'm not going to take your stories, Belle. You need to pack up your things. You are going to be staying elsewhere."

"Where else can I go?"

"Henric is going to take you to stay with Adrian,"  
he said. Now that name she knew. Adrian was the head of Nevermore. He's the real world Boogeyman.

"No," she said.

"Belle, this is the only way. I am sorry," he said.

"No, you're not sorry. Not even a little. All you care about is making sure this deal doesn't go bad. I thought your only daughter would be more important, but I have not mattered in sometime. I was foolish to believe otherwise." She flung these words like daggers at her father and she hoped they hurt like hell. She slammed the door and packed up her few belongings knowing she didn't have a choice about Adrian. She was just so mad at her father for offering her to this stranger as if she was a piece of livestock to an altar. There was more knocking at her door and she opened it up and it was just Henric.

"Ms. Belle, we ought to get going," he said. The way he addressed her surprised her. She wasn't expecting him to be so polite to her.  
"Ok," she said, as she grabbed her things. She turned closed the door and walked out of the house without looking back. It was a long and awkward car ride as they sat in silence. When they rounded the corner, the old mansion came into view. Belle's stomach sank when they pulled into the long and winding driveway. _Please don't be as terrible as everyone says. _She silently prayed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She was in the room that was supposed to be thought of as her own. She was taken here shortly after her arrival. It's been three days and she hasn't heard about or seen Adrian. Honestly it only bothered her a little. She wanted answers. _Why did he want me? What would a man like him want with a girl like me?_ She decided not to dwell on it. She looked around her, the room was amazing. It was like he knew her personally. It was filled with huge bookshelves that reached the ceilings. Not an empty space, they were full of every kind of book ever imaginable; there was more than anyone could imagine reading in their entire lifetime. There was a writing desk and a story board. He kept the room simple and clean. She absolutely loved it but still couldn't find a way to make herself at ease. No matter how nice the things that filled this room were the fact of the matter still stood; she was a prisoner here. There were three short knocks on the door and then food slides in from the small opening at the base of the door. Not only had she not heard from or about Adrian, she hasn't had any human contact since her arrival. This place was ridiculous. Then, the smell of fried chicken and warm mashed potatoes with a beef gravy overtook her senses and she ate her food. She replaced her tray by the door and a meek knock landed on the door.

"Yes?" she said, hopefully.

"Are you decent?" a gruff male voice asks.

"Yes," she replied. The door pushed open and a tall man stood in the dark doorway. The way he lurked in the shadows she couldn't make out his features. It was like he didn't want her too.

"Do you need anything?" he asked.

"Answer's would be a nice start," she snapped.

"Did your father not explain?" the voice replied.

"You mean the fact that I was to come here because it was for the best. Yeah, that talk was full of enlightenment."

"Not much changes with that man," the voice chuckled.

"You going to tell me or taunt me?" she asked. She was getting really annoyed.

"I believe Henric was misinformed when he was told you were meek. Your tongue is going to get in quite a lot of trouble girl." He moved closer and into the light. He had long, dark brown hair. It was cut to where it had a shaggy look, it got in the way of his deep blue eyes. They were the color of the ocean. His lips were in a thin tight line that shown his disapproval. As hard as she tried she couldn't help but notice the large scar that traveled over most of his face. It was a thin line that started at his left eyebrow and continued until it reached his right jawbone, directly below his ear. He was about six feet tall and looked to be in his early thirties. She knew immediately she had come face to face with Adrian.

"My apologies sir," she said. She bowed her head slightly to avoid his gaze. He bent on his knees in front of her and put her chin between his fingers and he tilted her face to force their eyes to meet.

"I see why they named you Belle, you are very beautiful." Then he let go of her face and left.


	3. Chapter 3

**_I decided to give Adrian's perspective a try. Let me know what you think. :D_**

Chapter 3

Adrian has been pacing back and forth since he left Belle's room. _Nobody has ever had the nerve to talk to me like that. _Part of him wanted to put the girl in her place, but there was another part of him that was interested. He was so accustomed to being feared that her snapping at him made him want to know more about her. It made him want to understand her, but at the same time it made him want to teach her to why everyone feared looked at the painting on his wall. It's a painting of a rose bush. The bush was colorless, lifeless; until the base where the thorns were thick and pointed and the bright green leaves that reminded him of the task he had to accomplish. He couldn't make Belle fear him, he had to find someone who could love him. As if on cue, the witch's voice popped into his head.

"Adrian, how is she going to love you if you keep her locked up and just keep her in fear of you? You actually have to earn her love not just kidnap her and pray she will fall in love with you because she is pretty and you buy here expensive things. Have you learned nothing?" she taunted him.

"I tried talking to her. I was told she was quiet and meek. Her attitude took me off guard, along with her ungratefulness for everything I have given her. She's so hard to please!" he said.

"You have a lot to learn and little time to learn it in." With that she was gone. With her departure, the rose bush gained more green and a little white rosebud appeared. He sat down in his chair and put his face in his hands. What did she think he was going to say to Belle? _Hi, I'm Adrian. I think you are beautiful, so beautiful that I have been stalking you and lurking in the shadows just to see you; because I know you could never care about a freak like me._ _Then, I told your father that I would send my men in to kill every one of his if he didn't hand you over to me so I can try and force you to love me because a witch cursed me and I will die if I cannot find someone to love me before a painting of a rose bush fully blooms._ That's the way to win over a woman's heart. I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong here. She loves books, I saw the amount she read when she was home. Maybe I have the wrong ones? She loves writing, she gets such a passionate look when she does. I got her everything she could want to for that. She has every kind of clothing that can be bought for a woman, jewelry, and shoes as well. Where am I messing up? Then he remembered what the witch had said about kidnapping Belle. He tried to reason with himself that he hadn't kidnapped her, her father gave her willingly to him. Kidnapping is taking, he had asked. _ More like threatened._ He sighed loudly.

"Sir," Henric said, as he knocked.

"Yes," he sighed. He sounded exhausted. Until then he hadn't realized just how tired he was, both emotionally and physically.

"The girl… Belle, she seems rather ill. She will not leave her bed and she hasn't eaten much," Henric reported. Adrian's heart sank deep into the pit of his stomach. _No, this can't be happening. Not to her, anyone else just not her. _He was puzzled by these thoughts, he barely knew this girl and he was so concerned about her health. He banished the thoughts to nothing but the fact that he needed her to live, he needed her to break the curse. He walked out of the room and opened the door to Belle's. She was laying in her bed and he could not deny her beauty. Her long chestnut hair was spread out all along her pillow and her all of the color was washed out of her skin, as if she was a ghost. She had a slender build, although it appeared that she had begun to lose weight. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she opened her deep brown eyes. He gently put his hand against her forehead to check her temperature and electricity pulsed through his skin. She flinched and he pulled away. _She flinched at my touch. I must repulse her. _He had to force himself to focus and not dwell on what just happened.

"Are you well?" he asked.  
"Yes," she said, in a raspy voice.  
"You hardly have a voice. Do you need water?" he asked. She nodded slightly, as if she didn't have the energy to do anything else. Not wanting to leave her side, he called Henric to bring in water. He handed it to her and she gave him a thin smile. Jealousy burned through Adrian. _ She smiles at him and flinches away from me. _Her hands shook as she tried to take a drink. He took it, with best efforts to not touch her again, and held the glass to her lips. She took small sips and then pulled away from the glass.

"Thank you," she whispered.  
"Do you need anything else?" he asked her. Her eyes closed as she drifted to sleep. He dared to softly touch her cheek. She softly grumble and rolled towards his touch. The electric current rushed through him, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. Just as he went to let go, her lips turned into a sleepy smile. His heart skipped a beat. He pulled away from her and made a silent promise to check on her in the morning.


End file.
